The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for performing processing of an image, a medical apparatus for performing a scan on a subject, and a program applied to the image processing apparatus.
Magnetic resonance imaging apparatuses for imaging a subject using a contrast medium have been conventionally known.
An example of the method of imaging a subject using a contrast medium is one in which an operator visually finds a position of an aorta from within/among an image/images, and defines a tracker region for detecting the contrast medium at the position of the aorta.
An aorta is detected by increasing the area of a Zdephaser in a slice gradient magnetic field to diminish as much as possible signals from blood in the aorta rendered in an axial image. Blood in the aorta, however, sometimes exhibits high signals in cardiac systole because the blood flow velocity in the aorta lowers then. Therefore, in practice, signals from blood in the aorta sometimes cannot be fully diminished due to an effect of the high-signal blood. This poses a problem that tissue different from the aorta is wrongly detected as an aorta, or the aorta cannot be detected. There is a known technique capable of detecting a position of the aorta even when signals from blood in the aorta are not fully diminished.
However, near the aorta lies an esophagus. Since the esophagus is rendered with relatively low signals, a known method may cause the esophagus lying near the aorta to be wrongly detected as an aorta. When the esophagus is wrongly detected as an aorta, a problem arises that it is difficult to define the tracker region for detecting a contrast medium at a position suitable for contrast-enhanced imaging. Thus, there is a need for a technique capable of, after executing detection processing for detecting a position of a body part of interest, such as the aorta, deciding whether or not the position of the body part of interest has been correctly detected.